Forever Yours (21 page)

Sydney was quiet for a moment, and she wished to hell she didn’t know him so well, because she knew he wasn’t buying it.

“Okay,” she conceded as she removed her mom’s comment and skimmed through her photos to see if she’d missed any other of her mother’s embarrassing comments. “Maybe I’ll have to give him a quick and dirty lesson on the do’s and don’ts of social media like I had to do with my mom. What he commented wasn’t so bad,” she said even as she hid a few of Leo’s “beautiful” comments and the one of him agreeing with her mom.

Angel wouldn’t even get it at this point since she’d deleted her mom’s comment. Even if he did notice, which was highly unlikely, Angel wasn’t a big fan of Facebook. As much as she’d made fun of Leonardo, Angel was just as bad about social media. But at least Angel had had an account for over a year now. He just didn’t get on there much. Still, she wanted to avoid any unnecessary conflict.

Just then an instant message popped up on her screen.

Leonardo: I wish we’d taken photos. I could’ve added them to my Facebook page. Next time I see you, we’ll have to take a few.

Crap!

He
was
going to be like her mom. The thing was, even if Angel didn’t check his Facebook frequently, she often had the page wide open on her laptop when Angel was around. She had nothing to hide from him and still didn’t, except maybe some innocent comments that could be interpreted as inappropriate. Not wanting to start bad habits and have Leonardo think she’d respond immediately to his Facebook messages, she decided she wouldn’t until later that evening.

Sydney agreed that giving him a heads up about how everyone can see what he’d commented on and that people tagged in photos would automatically be notified was a good idea.

She and Sydney spoke for another half hour with Sydney giving her a little more insight on his new roommate, his job, and some of the people he’d met so far out in Los Angeles. Sarah was glad but not surprised that Sydney had settled in quite nicely. What she
was
surprised about was how final his breakup with Carina was. She hadn’t asked in a while, so she decided to now.

“Sydney, so things are really over with you and Carina? You two don’t even talk or text?”

“Nope,” Sydney said coldly. “I called her once only because I’d heard she’d taken the semester off. I was worried about her. She assured me she was fine, that she just needed to take a breather from everything so she’d taken the semester off but would be back to school in January.”

Sarah couldn’t even imagine the heartache Carina must be going through. Well, she could. She’d lived through thinking it was really over between her and Angel once, but they’d been together less than six months when that happened. After all these years together, she’d be devastated if he suddenly dumped her just like that.

“And you’d tell me the truth if you were still hurting about this in any way, right? It’s okay to miss her, you know. You two were together for a long time.”

“I do miss her, Lynn,” he said to her surprise. “I miss her
a lot
. But what I don’t miss are the arguments. The constant tension and stress from all the bickering was just such a life suck. Seriously, as much as I miss her, I’m so much more at peace now. I’m good; don’t worry.”

After hanging up, she jumped in the shower and then worked on her paper for a while. She was glad after a few hours she’d made a major dent in it. Her phone rang just as she walked into the kitchen. “Of course,” she muttered, rushing back to her room. She caught it just in time and was relieved since it was Angel.

“Hey, babe,” she said with a big smile as she started back to the kitchen.

It was the weirdest thing. On any given day when she wasn’t around him all day because he was at work and then practice or whatever not seeing him all day, she didn’t feel so bad. Now, knowing he was so far away and would be for days, she missed him terribly after only few hours.

“Hey,” he said, and she could hear lots of voices in the background. “We just got to the hotel, and now we’re standing around waiting to get our room assignments and keys. Hawaii was not what I was expecting.”

“Why?”

He explained about their hotel being in downtown Waikiki, which was very touristy and not nearly as tropical as he envisioned. There were crowds, high rises, and lots of traffic. Angel was expecting secluded beaches and palm trees.

“I think those are the less-crowded islands, babe. I hear Maui is beautiful.”

“Well, when I bring you back, that’s where we’re going,” he said.

They spoke for a little bit longer until he said they’d gotten their room keys and he was going upstairs to unpack and relax for a little. “A bunch of us are probably gonna go do some sightseeing and maybe hang out at the beach for a little then grab something to eat and head back. We gotta be up early tomorrow morning. The game doesn’t start until noon,” he explained, “but the coach wants us at the school at eight to do some lifting and warming up before suiting up, so the bus will be here at seven.” He paused for a moment. “God, I wish you were here.”

She couldn’t help smiling and feeling all warm and fuzzy. She even encouraged him to enjoy himself even though inwardly she was hoping he wouldn’t too much. He said he’d call her again before he went to bed. Her mom caught the tail end of her conversation just as she hung up.

“So how’s Hawaii?” her mom asked, opening up the fridge Sarah had just closed.

“Different than he’d expected,” she explained what Angel had described.

“Sounds like your typical big city,” her mom said, pulling out the cold cuts and mayo. “And he’s going out tonight?”

Sarah turned to look at her mom, a little annoyed. “No,” she said, failing in her attempt to not to sound defensive. She knew her mom loved Angel, but she had never forgotten a conversation about Sydney and Angel they’d had just months after she’d been out of jail, so she continued. “He and some of the other players are just gonna do some sightseeing then grab something to eat.” She turned to her mom, who was making a sandwich now, not sure if she was purposely avoiding looking up. “I told him to enjoy himself,” she added for good measure just to show she wasn’t at all worried about what he’d be up to tonight or the rest of the weekend.

Her mom finally looked up and smiled. “I overheard someone this morning talking about the game tomorrow. It’s supposed to be a big one.”

Sarah exhaled, glad her mom changed the subject from Angel’s going out to the game. She talked with her for a bit longer before heading back to her room to finish that paper. Feeling a little guilty about the way she spoke to her mom after her mom’s simple comment, she thought of how shocked she’d been a few weeks after her mom had gotten out of jail and made another confession. She’d sat Sarah down and admitted to feeling terribly guilty for having separating her and Sydney. She said watching them together over the years as they’d grown closer and closer she’d been certain Sarah would end up with Sydney. It was why she refused to let Sarah stay with him and his family while she was in jail. She’d been afraid that Sarah might repeat the cycle and by the time she was out of jail Sarah would have a least one baby if not more. Clearly, her mom had been wrong about the kind of love and devotion Sarah had for Sydney. More than once she’d asked Sarah if she was certain she wasn’t in love with Sydney and possibly making a mistake she’d later regret by staying with Angel.

When Sarah had told her mom about Sydney breaking up with Carina and why, her mom hadn’t seemed surprised, but she didn’t say what she was obviously thinking—the same thing Angel had been thinking—that Sydney was and always had been in love with her. This was the one thing Sarah had never shared with
anyone
.

Not Angel.

Not Valerie.

And certainly not Sydney.

Why not Sydney? Her best friend whom she could share anything with? Because deep inside, in a place Sarah was afraid to admit even existed ever since her mom had brought it up, she’d begun to wonder if maybe her mom had been right about Sydney’s feelings for her.

Sarah would never ask Sydney to tell her the truth because she knew Sydney. If he were in love with her, as long as she was with Angel, he’d never tell her unless she asked outright. And if that were the case, Sarah didn’t know how that would change things between them, especially since she’d vowed never to keep something like that from Angel. So she’d long ago decided she’d never ask Sydney.

Chapter 14

Angel

Things had gone from bad to worse in a matter of hours. The hotel had offered a couple of their courtesy shuttles to drive some of the team members around and check out downtown Waikiki and some of the close-by tourist attractions. A few of the guys started talking about a party at one of the hotels nearby. The driver of the shuttle was cool about giving them a ride there but warned he couldn’t wait too long. Angel had already told Alex he was out. He had no intention of partying tonight, especially knowing how early they had to be up and that if anyone missed that bus tomorrow there’d be hell to pay with their coaches once they got on the field. Angel wasn’t about to be one of them. He knew if one fucked up they’d all be paying for it, but he’d be damned if he’d be the one to blame. Already they’d been duly warned on the bus ride from the airport to their hotel by their head coach.

“No messing around! Go grab something to eat. Get all your shit ready for the morning and get your asses in bed
early
. Once you win tomorrow you have tomorrow and Sunday night to celebrate. But tonight it’s lights out before ten.”

Angel was still tired from the long flight and having gotten up so early that morning. Going back to the room taking a shower and talking to Sarah on the phone before calling it an early night would’ve been ideal. Instead, here he was at a hotel party, annoyed with himself for not just having walked back to his hotel. Just when he thought he couldn’t possibly get any more annoyed than he already was, he heard the same high-pitched squealing he’d heard earlier, only this time it was followed by his name.

“Angel!”

He was barely able to catch who it was that practically tackled him, throwing her arms around him. Dana pulled away, squealing as her friends stood there wearing smiles just as big and taking pictures. She squeezed him again, but he’d learned his lesson long ago. Subtlety didn’t work on Dana. Neither did being polite.

“Easy,” he said, bringing his arms between them awkwardly to get her off him.

If she was embarrassed by his rejection at all, she played it off, moving her squealing over to Alex. Alex was, as usual, a bit more appeasing when it came to this kind of shit. Angel could practically feel the heat rise up his stiff shoulders and neck now as she explained that she and her friends were hosting this party. Not only was he going to have to explain that his dumb ass had ended up at a hotel party to Sarah but that it was Dana’s party. With all the cameras flashing as she’d bombarded him, he knew the photos would be out there too.

Fuck!

When she was done rubbing herself shamelessly all over Alex, Dana glanced at Angel, biting her lower lip playfully. Then she turned to her friends and introduced them to Angel and the other guys. All Angel could think of was making a mad dash out of there and getting Sarah on the phone so he could explain before she heard about this from anyone else.

He had to wait until after Alex had posed with two girls on his lap to get his attention. As soon as he had it, he motioned to him that he was out. Alex frowned but nodded, indicating he’d see him later. Halfway to the door he felt a tug on his hand and turned just as Dana tried to slip her hand in his.

Feeling beyond annoyed, Angel stopped, snagging his hand back and away from hers. He didn’t give a shit if it was rude or not. This was Dana. Nothing short of being painfully blunt seemed to get across to her back in high school when she was such a pain in the ass, and apparently things hadn’t changed. Dana’s eyes opened wide as if his not wanting to hold her hand actually came as a shock to her.

“I was just gonna ask where you were going,” she said, shaking her head, bewildered by his reaction. “Are you mad?”

“No, I’m just—”

“Is this because I hugged your brother?”

“
What?”
If he weren’t so fucking irritated, he might’ve laughed at that.

“I hope you don’t think I was flirting with him or anything because—”

“Dana, I don’t give a shit . . .” He stopped himself and took a breath before he got too worked up. “I don’t care what you do with my brother or anyone else, okay? I’m in a hurry to get out of here because I’m anxious to talk to Sarah.” Just saying it out loud made him even more anxious to do so. “You remember her, right? My
girlfriend?
”

The change in her expression was immediate, and Angel almost wanted her to say even one thing negative about Sarah so he could let her have it. He was done playing nice.

A loud commotion got their attention, and he turned in time to see a scuffle and lots of bodies being pushed around over by where Alex had been standing, but he didn’t see Alex. Maybe he was one of the guys in the middle of it all.